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Blue Note Records - Business History
}} Blue Note Records: Capitalism Born of Socialist Idealists : Blue Note records was founded in 1939 by social revolutionaries, producers Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Margulis, a self-described Communist, ironically provided the capital to start up the capitalist enterprise of Blue Note. Marguilis departed the business early, and was replaced by Lion's childhood friend, Francis Wolff. : Blue Note's first recording was of two musicians who had impressed Lion at an earlier concert: The boogie-woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis. : The company's first hit, recorded in the same year, was Sidney Bechet's recording of "Summertime". It was notable for being issued on a 12" 78rpm record instead of the then standard 10" owing to its length. : : Lion developed a statement of purpose for Blue Note which he published in a brochure in May of 1939 (See below, left) : : |Alfred Lion Alfred Lion,BlueNote History,BlueNote.com}} Standing Apart from Other Labels : Lion and Wolff were respected by musicians for their straight dealing and for 'hanging out' in the jazz scene. They ran sessions in the wee hours of the morning to accommodate the work and play schedules of their artists, and provided them with food, booze and cigarettes to keep the recording sessions going. : : "Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff were men of integrity and real jazz fans. Blue Note was a great label to record for," said Horace Silver in an interview in the 1980s. "They gave a first break to a lot of great artists who are still out there doing it today. They gave me my first break. They gave a lot of musicians a chance to record when all the other companies weren't interested. And they would stick with an artist, even if he wasn't selling. You don't find that anymore."Blue Note History,http://www.bluenote.com/History.aspx : The End of Independence : Blue Note ran independently from the 1950s into 1965, when the label was acquired by Liberty Records. It is currently owned by the EMI Group and in 2006 was expanded to fill the role of an umbrella label group bringing together a wide variety of EMI-owned labels and imprints specializing in the growing market segment of music for adults. : Lion, who had difficulties working within the larger organization, retired in 1967. Album cover designer Reid Miles' association with the label ended around this time. For a few years most albums were produced by Wolff or pianist Duke Pearson, who had filled Ike Quebec's role in 1963, but Wolff died in 1971 and Pearson left in the same year. : George Butler was now responsible for the label. Despite some good albums, the commercial viability of jazz was in question. More borderline and outright commercial records were made, often by artists who had previously recorded "straight" jazz for the label like Bobby Hutcherson, Lou Donaldson, Donald Byrd, Grant Green, and Horace Silver. The End of the Original Blue Note Records : Having suffered from heart problems for some years, Lion retired in 1965 and sold the Blue Note label and catalogue to Liberty Records in 1965. Liberty Records in turn was acquired by United Artists, and the Blue Note imprint went dormant until it was revived by record executive Bruce Lundvall under the ownership of EMI. United Artists Records absorbed Liberty in 1969.Wolff stayed with the label until his death in 1971. EMI purchased United Artists Records in 1979, phased out the Blue Note label. Blue Note Relaunch Blue Note laid dormant until 1985, when it was relaunched as part of EMI Manhattan Records, both for re-issues and new recordings. : Some artists previously associated with Blue Note, such as McCoy Tyner made new recordings, while younger musicians such as Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Greg Osby, Jason Moran and arranger / composer Bob Belden have established notable reputations through their Blue Note albums. : The label has also found great commercial success with the vocalist Norah Jones, and released new albums by established artists on the fringes of jazz such as Van Morrison, Al Green, Anita Baker and newcomer Amos Lee, sometimes referred to as the 'male Norah Jones'. : Two of the leading trumpeters of the 1980s Jazz Resurgence, Wynton Marsalis and Terence Blanchard signed with the label in 2003. Blue Note Reissue Program : As of June 2007, Bruce Lundvall, founder of Manhattan Records, continues as President/CEO of the Blue Note Label Group, reporting directly to Eric Nicoli, the Chief Executive Officer of EMI Group.7 : : There has been an extensive reissue campaign under Lundvall. Michael Cuscuna has spearheaded the program, working as freelance advisor and reissue producer. : Some of Blue Note's output has appeared in CD Box sets issued by Mosaic Records (also involving Cuscuna), and there has been a series of reissues of older material, much of it in the "RVG series", remastered by Rudy Van Gelder. : Blue Note Records became the flagship jazz label for Capitol Jazz and Classics and was the parent label for the Capitol Jazz, Pacific Jazz, Roulette and other labels within Capitol's holdings which possessed a jazz line. : In 2006, EMI expanded Blue Note to create the Blue Note Label Group by moving its Narada Records group of labels to New York to join with Blue Note, centralizing EMI's approach to music for the adult market segment. : The labels newly under the Blue Note umbrella are Angel Records, EMI Classics and Virgin Classics (classical music), Narada Productions (contemporary jazz and world-influenced music, including exclusively licensed sub-label Real World Records), Back Porch Records (folk and Americana), Higher Octave Records (New Age music), and Mosaic Records (devoted exclusively to reissuing jazz recordings in limited-edition boxed sets).56 Artistic Revival : In 2008, The Blue Note 7, a jazz septet, were formed in honor of the 70th Anniversary of Blue Note Records. The group recorded an album in 2008, entitled Mosaic, which was released in 2009 on Blue Note Records/EMI, and toured the United States in promotion of the album from January until April 2009.2 : The group consists of Peter Bernstein (guitar), Bill Charlap (Piano), Ravi Coltrane (Tenor Saxophone), Lewis Nash (Drums), Nicholas Payton (Trumpet), Peter Washington (Bass), and Steve Wilson (Alto Saxophone, flute). The group plays the music of Blue Note Records from various artists, with arrangements by members of the band and Renee Rosnes. : Hip-hop producer Madlib recorded Shades of Blue in 2003 as a tribute to Blue Note. The album features samples recorded by the label throughout. References Category:Blue Note Records Category:Lion, Alfred Category:Wolff, Francis Category:American Record Labels Category:Record Labels